


Respite

by Terminallydepraved



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-20
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-06-13 14:09:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15366354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Terminallydepraved/pseuds/Terminallydepraved
Summary: Androids don't sleep, but they can still have nightmares.





	Respite

**Author's Note:**

> i was just chilling last night on twitter and i came across a tweet that made me want to write this. shout out to @livelovesimon for the idea! enjoy yall.

Androids didn’t need to sleep to stay functioning.

It was a simple thing to understand. They didn’t have muscles that got tired. They didn’t have brains that needed rest to stay sharp. Their bodies weren’t fragile the way humans were.

At least, that was what Markus told himself as he stared at the blank wall for what had to be the fourth consecutive hour, for the fourth consecutive night of his endless vigil. The night was at its darkest and had all but devoured the room. Markus blinked slowly, his sensors struggling to process the world around him. Androids didn’t need sleep the way a human might, but that didn’t mean they didn’t need their own form of rest to keep from slowing down.

His fellow Jericho members were already in standby mode. They were arranged in clusters around the ship’s deck, some sitting, some standing, some laying down with heads rested on thighs of those they were closest with. Markus blinked again, his processor stuttering as he did another headcount. The sixtieth so far. Everyone was here. Everyone was safe.

He really should rest too.

Almost without his permission, his systems began booting down. One by one by one they turned off unneeded functions. External things first. Internal next.

His hearing began to fade into silence, the stimulus unnecessary while his systems recharged. A crackle sounded in Markus’s ear. They always did when turning off. Just a symptom of their rough installation. They’d done the same when he’d… When he’d put them in. Back in that… 

His eyes widened in an instant, but it was too late. The system was already powered down.

The world went silent, and Markus’s vision turned red.

The piercing quiet of a world gone silent—silent as the grave—stabbed itself deep into Markus’s chest. 

This happened every time he tried to power down. The silence… it was too much. No sound, no reassuring white noise to tell him where he was, who he was with. Markus sat ramrod straight against the hull of the ship, his eyes wide but not seeing. Everything was in functioning order, but his vision fractured, crackled regardless. Something damp touched his cheek. Rain? Was it—

**Danger. Mind Palace Offline.**

Icy hands, gaping mouths. Wide, cracked faces of androids left to rot and die in that hole. Markus covered himself with his arms, fighting off the grabbing hands and desperate fingers. They scrambled and pried, seeking parts, seeking hope. The hope to get out, to save themselves. To not die in this dump in the pouring rain, the cold rain, so cold… Colder than an android should feel  _ could  _ feel. Cold cold cold face down in that puddle that woman’s heart he’d taken it he didn’t want to she didn’t want to die but neither did he--

**Systems Warning.**

**Warning.**

**Alert. Systems Overheating.**

Markus was suffocating on air he didn’t need to breathe.

“Markus?” a soft voice called out. A speck of warmth in the cold stalling his system. “Are you alright?”

Markus blinked once, then twice, then a third time. It took a few more after that to process the world beyond the flashing warnings. His ears weren’t working. He didn’t have the part for that yet. “Simon?” Markus croaked, reaching out a hand. He was drowning. Dragged down in the muck and mud, that pouring rain pelting him from every angle. Was this… how he died?

Warm. Warm fingers, warm touch. Smooth white pierced the black, cutting through the warning lights. Markus lifted his head, his mind filling with the scent of flowers. The tease of a summer day drying the rain, the tears, the pain. Something solid pressed its way past his arms. Markus enveloped it on instinct. One by one by one, his systems began to turn back on.

“It’s alright, Markus,” Simon whispered, hiding his face in Markus’s neck. He curled his fingers through Markus’s, lacing them together as he kept up a steady stream of images through the link. “You’re here. With me. With Simon.”

Something soft brushed Markus’s cheek. Hair. He turned into it, breathing in Simon’s scent. His eyes closed. They were together. Sitting in a field of flowers, watching the clouds drift by above their heads. No rain would fall here, he knew. He knew because Simon told him. Not with words. Not with anything tangible. Markus held onto Simon’s hand tighter.

“I almost died,” he wheezed, turning towards Simon in that field, in that dream. “I can’t… I can’t sleep. I’ll die again.”

Simon looked at him softly. Softer than those hands, those begging, cracked faces. “I won’t let that happen,” he promised, cupping Markus’s cheek, stroking beneath his blue, stolen eye. “We can stay here. I’ll keep watch. I’ll keep you safe.”

That warm breeze rolled through as if to back up his words. It tickled the back of Markus’s neck, like soft blond hair against his cheek. “Do you promise?” He couldn’t go back there. He couldn’t breathe when the air was mud.

Birdsong filled their haven. Simon smiled, nodding. He laced their fingers together, bringing them to his lips. When he kissed Markus’s hand, something eased behind his eyes.

Everything was okay now. He could trust this.

He could trust Simon.

**Author's Note:**

> first time writing these two but i had a good time. hope yall enjoyed it! check me out on twitter (tdcloud_writes) for more dbh shenanigans, and on amazon/kindle if you guys wanna check out my published work under the name T.D. Cloud. until next time!


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